We Say - Part 3 of 4
We Say - Part 3 of 4
Whatever government assumes power in Papua New Guinea, a paramount priority for it is to demonstrate that the rule of law applies to all and that no one is immune from the consequences of their defiance of the law.
At the time this edition of Islands Business went to press, only one outcome of the general election in Papua New Guinea was clear. That chaos in an already chaotic country was mounting.
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The outlook for the region's largest and richest country, with five million of the region's seven million people, was dismal. Murder at the polls, the seizure of the contents of poll boxes by armed men, a breakdown of law and order in some parts of the country that made them no-go areas, and an extraordinary fragmentation of political power, was moving Papua New Guinea towards anarchy.
The progress of the protracted election had kept Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta in his parliamentary seat. That was one blessing. But the task before him in struggling to preserve Papua New Guinea as a politically and economically viable autonomous nation appeared to be never more daunting.
The disorder of the election is surely yet another bad setback for Papua New Guinea in its struggle to convince investors that it warrants their attention. Some aspects of the election were ugly; they show that there is an increasing number of Papua New Guineans who believe that they can sweep aside the poll and rule by the gun. Whatever government assumes power in Papua New Guinea, a paramount priority for it is to demonstrate that the rule of law applies to all and that no one is immune from the consequences of their defiance of the law. That is something that must be demonstrated ruthlessly.
